Stripping machine



R. M. FRASER STRIPPING MACHINE May 29, 1956 Filed Dec. 22 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet l JIHHIM.

May 29, 1956 FRASER 2,747,206

STRIPPING MACHINE Filed Dec. 22, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 29, 1956 R. M. FRASER STRIPPING MACHINE F iled Dec. 22, 195:5

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 STPING MACHINE Robert M. Fraser, Buenos Aires, Argentina, assignor to Fabrica Argentina de Alparagatas Soc'iedad Anonima Industrial y Commercial, Buenos Aires, Argentina, a corporation of Argentina Application December 22, 1953, Serial No. 399,760

19 Claims. (Cl. 12-1) The present invention relates generally to stripping machines and is particularly directed to a machine for stripping shaped objects, such as, for example, slippers, shoes, galoshes, sandals, boots and the like, from the cores or lasts on which they are formed, as, for example, by vulcanizing.

Heretofore, it has been the usual practice, in the production of slippers and the like having rubber soles vulcanized to the uppers thereof, to bodily remove the lasts having the slippers thereon and the supporting rods on which the lasts are mounted from the autoclave at the conclusion of the vulcanizing operation, and, after permitting suitable cooling, to manually strip each slipper from its corresponding last and finally to manually remove the lasts from their supporting rods or bars. Such manual stripping of the slippers from the lasts and of the lasts from their supporting rods or bars is a slow and hence expensive operation and wastes the time of employees who could be much more advantageously employed in performing other operations.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention'to provide an automatic machine for stripping shaped articles or objects, such as, slippers and the like, from the cores or lasts on which they are formed and then for removing the stripped cores or lasts from their supporting rods or bars on which they are mounted.

Another object is to provide an automatic machine of the described character effective to segregate the stripped objects or articles, the removed cores or lasts and the supporting rods or bars, and then to carry the segregated elements to suitable zones where certain of the elements, such as, the lasts and their supporting rods can again be assembled together to carry a shaped object, such as, a slipper and the like, during a vulcanizing operation.

In accordance with the present invention the above, and other objects, features and advantages appearing in the following detailed description, are achieved by providing a stripping machine which includes a supporting frame, an endless conveyor movably supported within the frame and driven by a suitable motor or the like, with the conveyor embodying devices thereon for receiving the rods or bars on which the shod cores or lasts are removably mounted to carry such rods along a path of travel passing a stripping station at which devices are disposed for stripping the shaped objects, such as, slippers and the like, from the respective cores or lasts, a core or last removing station at which the cores or lasts are separated from their respective supporting rods or bars, and a discharge station at which the cleared rods or bars are removed from the conveyor, and auxiliary conveyors arranged to receive the separated shaped objects, cores or lasts and rods, respectively, for carrying such elements to segregated zones where they may be sorted out to permit reassembly of the cores or lasts and the rods for reuse in the vulcanizing operation.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, an illustrative embodiment thereof is hereinafter described in detail and shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof and wherein:

nited States ate r 2,747,206 Ice Patented May 1956 Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of a stripping machine embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail side elevational view, on an enlarged scale, of a device included in the machine of Fig. 1 for stripping shaped objects from their respective cores or lasts;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view of the machine of .Fig. 1 on a reduced scale and showing the discharge end thereof; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view. of the machine of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a stripping machine embodying the present invention is there illustrated and generally identified by the reference numeral 1. The machine 1 includes a structural frame 2, made up, in part, by a pair of angle iron frame members 3, of substantially inverted U-shaped configuration having suitable cross-members extending therebetween. The frame members 3 are for the most part covered by walls 4, preferably formed of sheet metal, and a bench or table 5 is disposed at one side of the main frame 2 to support a suitable source of driving power, for example, an electric motor 6. Another support table or bench 5 is disposed adjacent the table 5 and carries a speed reducing mechanism 7 which is coupled, as hereinafter indicated, to the motor 6.

Laterally extending and substantially triangular guides, generally identified by the reference numerals and 10, are mounted at the insides of the two spaced apart frame members 3 for guiding the movement of a conveyor through the space defined between the frame members 3. The conveyor includes endless chains 12 having rollers 13 on the pins connecting the successive links to each other for rolling contact with the respective guides 9 and 1t). Sprockets 15, 16 and 17 and sprockets 15', 16 and 17 are fixedly mounted upon transversely extending rotatable shafts 18, 19 and 20 which are suitably journalled, at their opposite ends, in bearings carried by the frame members 3 at the opposite sides of the machine. Thus, as seen in Fig. 4, the conveyor chains 12 are made to follow a substantially triangular path of travel having the sprockets 15, 16 and 17, and the sprockets 15', 16 and 17, disposed in the corners there- As seen in Fig. l, the speed reducing mechanism 7 has an input shaft 21 which is joined by a coupling 22 to the output shaft 23 of the motor 6. The output shaft of the speed reducing mechanism 7 is connected to a control device or transmission 7, of conventional construction, and having an output or driving shaft 24 which is provided with a driving sprocket 26 located Within a protective housing 25. The shaft 20 has a sprocket 28 fixed on an extension thereof within the protective housing 25, and a chain 27 (Fig. 3) is trained around the sprockets 26 and 28 to drive the latter and thereby effect rotation of the shaft 26 of the conveyor assembly. The chains 12 of the conveyor assembly are displaced by rotation of the sprockets 17 and 17 fixed on the shaft 20 and serve to effect rotation of the remaining sprockets 15 and 15', and 16 and 16 of the conveyor assembly.

The chains 12, at suitably spaced apart and transversely aligned locations, have means, generally identified by the reference numeral 14, for receiving the end portions of rods'or bars, generally identified by the reference numerals 11. Each of the rods 11 (Figs, 2 and 3) includes a tubular body 29 having truncated end portions 29 and U-shaped members 30 secured to the body 29 at uniformly spaced apart locations along the length of the latter. Each of the U-shaped members 30 includes parallel, spaced apart arms 31 and 32 which are receivable in suitable bores or cavities 33 and 34, respectively, pro- .or 15 and 17'.

3 vided in the body of a core or last 35. The members 30 are preferably welded to the tubular body 29 and flat plates 36 are similarly secured to the opposite ends of the body 29 to be received in the supporting or receiving members 14 carried by the chains 12. As seen in Fig. 2, the plates 36 are angularly related to the arms 31 and 32 of the members 30 so that the latter incline rearwardly, that is, away from the direction of travel of the bars 11 when mounted upon the chains 12.

Each of the receiving members 14 includes a base portion 39 mounted upon a link of the chain 12 and having an upstanding flange 38 extending along the outer longitudinal edge thereof, with transverse upstanding flanges 40 and 41 being provided at the forward and rear ends, respectively, of the base 39. Thus, each of the receiving members 14 defines a pocket opening laterally in the inward direction and upwardly when the related receiving member is travelling along the upper run of the conveyor path of travel between the sprockets 15 and 17 Preferably, the forward flange 40 of the receiving member is higher than the rear flange 41 and has a bent upper portion 42 to require rocking or rotation of the plate 36 about its forward end in order to effect insertion or removal of the plate 36 relative to its receiving member 14. Further, the plate 36 is preferably provided with an upstanding flange 37 extending along its outer longitudinal edge to bear laterally against the flange 38 of the related receiving member 14 and thereby to laterally stabilize the respective rod 11 on the conveyor assembly. Since each plate 36 is flat and rests upon the correspondingly flat base 39 of the related receiving member 14, rotation of the rods 11 will be resisted during travel through the machine, and the lasts 35 mounted upon the rods 11 will be maintained in a definite relationship relative to the path of travel of the conveyor. Further, rocking or tilting of the rods 11 is prevented, during the various stripping operations, hereinafter described in detail, by the arrangement of the guides 9 and 10. As seen in Fig. 4, each of the guides 9 and includes an inner guide member 60 on which the rollers 13 of the related chain 12 travel, and an outer guide member 59 which overlies an open side of the, pocket defined by the receiving member 14 along a substantial portion of the path of travel of the conveyor and thereby prevents removal of the plate 36 and its flange 37 from the related receiving member 14.

It is to be understood that each of the rods 11, when withdrawn from a vulcanizing autoclave (not shown) has a last or core 35 mounted upon each of the members 30 thereof, and a vulcanized, shaped object, such as, for example, a slipper, shoe, sandal or boot, and the like, is disposed upon each of the lasts 35. The machine 1 is intended to eifect the automatic stripping of the slippers and the like from the respective lasts 35, to remove the denuded lasts 35 from the respective members 30, and then finally to discharge the rods 11 from the receiving members 14 of the conveyor chains. As seen in Fig. 4, the outer guide member 59 of each of the guides 9 and 10 has a gap therein extending from the bent end 61, adjacent the end of the lower run of the conveyor path of travel, to the bent end 61 disposed adjacent the end or top of the rising conveyor run at the front of the machine. Thus, as the conveyor passes a loading station A, defined by a housing opening at the front of the machine, a rod 11 carrying a series of lasts with shaped articles thereon, as received from the vulcanizing autoclave, may be manually inserted in a pair of the receiving members 14. As the manually inserted rod 11 moves upwardly with the conveyor, the opposite end portions of the rod 11 are carried under the initial portions 61' of the outer guide members 59 so that the outer guide members then lock the plates 36, at the opposite ends of the rod 11 within the receiving members 14. The rod 11 is carried around the sprockets and 15' and then travels along the downwardly inclined upper run of the conveyor path. During movement along this downwardly inclined upper run of the conveyor path, the shaped articles upon the lasts carried by the successive rods 11 are subjected to the action of a laterally arranged series of stripping devices generally identified by the reference numerals 43.

The stripping devices 43 are supported by a cross frame member 8, and each of the stripping devices includes a support bracket 44 depending from the cross frame member. An angularly adjustable bell-crank 49 is mounted on each support bracket 44 and has arms of unequal length. The longer arm, at its free end, is pivotally connected to one end of a lever 46 which at its other end carries a claw 56 provided with a roller 57, and a bent support 48 extends fixedly from the hub of the bellcrank 49 and is bent laterally below the lever 46 to support that lever and limit its downward swinging. The short arm of the bell-crank 49 is pivotally connected to one end of an adjustable tensioning link 51, and the opposite end of that link is provided with an adjustable clevis 52 which is pivotally connected by a pin 53 or the like to an extension 54 provided at an intermediate location on a curved stripping member 45 having a spoonshaped stripping element 55 at one end thereof. The end portion of the member 45 remote from the element 55 is slidably supported upon a laterally bent portion of a support 47 which is also fixedly secured, as by welding, to the hub of bell-crank 49. A set screw 50 extends through the hub of bell-crank 49 to secure the latter in an adjusted angular position relative to the support bracket 44. It is apparent that angular adjustment of the bellcrank 49 relative to the support bracket 44 will displace the bent supports 47 and 48 to vary the initial positions of the lever 46 and of the stripping member 45.

The operation of the stripping device 43 is as follows:

As a shod last 35 is carried by its related rod 11 along the downwardly inclined run of the conveyor path, the heel portion of the last comes in contact with the spoonshaped stripping element 55 and presses against the latter so that the member 45 slides along the support 47 and pivots about the link pin 53 to impart a movement to the spoon-shaped element 55 which is always tangential to the heel portion of the last. The initial pressure against the element 55 ensures good frictional contact of the latter with the shaped object or slipper on the last 35, and the tangential movement of the element 55 provides the proper stripping action to lift the heel portion of the slipper from the last. In effect, the member 45 and its extension 54, the tensioning link 51 and the bent support 47 define the sides of a quadrilateral having a fixed corner or apex at the point of pivotal connection of link 51 to the bell-crank 49 and a variable side extending from the element 55 to the point of support by the bent support 47.

After the element 55 has lifted the heel portion of the slipper off the corresponding part of the last 35, the claw 56, with its roller 57 in rolling contact with the surface of the last to prevent injury to the latter, engages under the heel of the slipper to disengage the latter from the last.

It is apparent that the required movements of each stripping device 43 are obtained by the action of the last 35 thereagainst as the latter travels with the conveyor, and that no additional driving mechanism is required to effect the operative movements of the stripping device.

As seen in Fig. 4, an inclined plate 89 extends laterally at a location following the stripping devices 43 and below the downwardly inclined run of the conveyor. The plate 89 has an extension plate 90 hinged to its upper edge and projecting into the path of travel of the successive rods 11 so that the latter swing or deflect the plate 90, against the action of a spring 91, and upon being released the plate 90 pivots relative to the plate 89 to strike against the toe portion of a slipper still hanging from the last and thereby to complete the removal of the slipper from its last. The removed slippers then slide down the plate 89 and are discharged onto a laterally moving conveyor "-62 which includes rollers :63 supporting a continuously moving belt-64. The belt 64 passes out through an opening B in the side of the machine and discharges the shaped objects or slippers stripped from the lasts into a hopper 65 having a swingable gate 70 at its lower end connected to suitable actuating means, 'for example, a pressure fluid operated cylinder 71 which may be remotely or automatically controlled to govern the release of the shaped objects from the hopper 65. The machine 1 is further provided with a laterally extending conveyor 66 including rollers 68 mounted in a sub-frame 67 and supporting a continuously moving belt 69. The conveyor 66 is arranged to receive the stripped shaped objects from hopper 65 when the gate 70 is opened and to further transport such objects to a bin (not shown) or other receptacle disposed at a location remote from the machine.

After the shaped objects have been stripped and removed from the lasts 35, the rods 11 carrying the latter are transported by the conveyor around the sprockets 17 and 17' and then travel along the lower run of the conveyor path. During movement of the rods 11 along this lower run, the several lasts 35 on each rod 11 are subjected to the action of a laterally arranged series of last removing devices each generally identified by the reference numeral 58. Each of the last removing devices 58 includes a lever 83 pivoted at one end, for example, on the shaft 20, and provided at its other end with depending hammer elements 85 and 86 adapted to strike against the related last at opposite sides of the arms 31 and 32 received in the bores 33 and 34, respectively, of the last. An actuating arm 84 extends rigidly from the lever 83 .in a downwardly and forwardly inclined direction and projects into the path of travel of the successive rods 11 carried bythe conveyor. Thus, as the successive rods 1]. advance along the lower run of the conveyor path of travel, each rod in turn rides against the arm 84 to swing the latter and raise the lever 83. When the rod disengages the arm 84, the raised lever 33 falls under the influence of gravity and the hammer elements 85 and 86 strike against the last in front and in back of the rod to remove the last from the related member 39 on the rod. In order that the hammer element 86, when lowered in front of a .rod, will not interfere with continued advancement of the latter, the element 86 is pivoted, as at 87, on the lever 83 and a spring 88 extends between the hammer elements 85 and 86 to yieldably retain the element 86 in a position parallel to the element 85. Thus, after the lever 83 has been dropped, the hammer element 86 in front-of the rod 11 can be rocked by the latter out of the path of movement of the rod so as to avoid interference with such movement.

A-n inclined ramp 72 is disposed below the last removing devices 53 to receive the lasts or cores 35 as the latter fall from the respective rods 11 and terminates ina steep- .ly inclined end portion which defines a core receiving bin, and a swingable gate 73 is provided at the lower end of the core receiving bin .to control the discharge of the lasts from the latter. Preferably, the gate 73 .is actuated by a-pressure fluidoperated cylinder .74 (Fig. 1) and, when opened, permits the removed lasts to fall onto an auxiliary conveyor generally identified by the reference numeral 75. The auxiliary conveyor 75 preferably is formed by a sub-frame 76 supporting rotatable rollers 77 over which a continuous moving .belt 78 is trained to carry the removed lasts laterally out from under the machine 1 to a suitable collecting bin (not shown).

The pressure fluid operated cylinders 7i and 7d which actuate the gates 70 and 73, respectively, are preferably controlled by distributing valves 80 (Fig. 1) interposed in ducts 81 which carry pressure fluid from a suitable source (not shown) and such valves regulate or control the supply of pressure fluid to the related cylinder, with the valves 89 being actuated by suitable solenoids 82 in a conventional manner.

After the lasts 35 have been removed from rods 11 by the devices 58, the rods are transported farther along the lower run of the conveyor path. During movement along that lower run, the receiving members 14 of the conveyor assembly are disposed to open downwardly so that the plates 36 at the ends of the rods 11 are prevented from falling out of the members 14 only by the restraining action of the underlying outer guide members 59 of the guides 9 and It at the opposite sides of the machine. However, when the receiving members 14 arrive at that point on the lower run of the conveyor path where the outer guide members 59 terminate, as at 61, the plates 36 at the ends of the related rod 11 are free to drop out of the receiving members 14 and the successive rods 11, devoid of the previously removed lasts 35, then drop under the influence of gravity into a suitable bin or hopper '79 underlying the terminating ends 61 of .the outer guide members. In order to ensure that the rods ll fall from the conveyor upon reaching the position above the hopper 79, suitable inclined or cam-like stops (not shown) are preferably disposed in the path of travel of the rods 11 at a location along the lower run of the conveyor path laterally aligned with the terminal ends 61 of the outer guide members. Such stops will act, as the plates 36 on the ends of each rod 11 move oif the lower guide members 59 at 61, to urge the rod 11 downwardly and out of engagement with the receiving members 14 of the conveyor.

As the receiving members 14 of the conveyor move around the sprockets 16 and 16' and travel along the upwardly inclined run of the conveyor path, such receiving members 14 will again be empty and in condition to receive the plates 36 of a further rod 11 having shod lasts thereon as they pass the loading station or opening A.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the described machine 1 embodying the present invention automatically and continuously acts on the rods '11 manually fed thereto, as received from a vulcanizing autoclave, to strip the shaped objects, such as, slippers and the like, from the lasts, to remove the lasts from the rods and then to discharge the rods, and also automatically segregates the shaped objects, lasts and rods so that the shaped objects can be sorted out and the lasts and rods can be reused in the vulcanizing operation. Thus, the manual labor required is reduced merely to feeding the loaded rods to the machine thereby effecting substantial economies in .the utilization of labor and a corresponding decrease in the cost of producing the shaped objects.

While an illustrative embodiment of the invention has been described in detail and shown in the accompanying drawings, merely by way of example, it is to be under stood that the invention is not limited to that precise embodiment and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic machine for stripping shaped objects 7 from the cores on which they are formed and for removing the denuded cores from rods on which the latter are mounted; said machine comprising a supporting iframe, an endless moving conveyor carried by said frame, means for driving said conveyor, means on said conveyor for receiving successive rods carrying cores having shaped objects thereon to transport the rods along the path of travel of said conveyor, object stripping means disposed adjacent said path of travel and operative to strip the shaped objects from the cores carried by the successive rods as the latter pass thereby, means disposed adjacent said path of travel at a location following said stripping means and operative to remove the stripped objects from their respective cores, means disposed adjacent said path of travel at a location following said object removing means and operative to remove the denuded cores from the successive rods, and means for receiving the removed shaped objects and for receiving the removed denuded cores and including auxiliary conveying means operative to transport the received objects and cores to segregated zones.

2. An automatic machine according to claim 1; wherein said frame includes two upstanding and parallel spaced apart frame members having a cross-frame member ex tending therebetween and supporting said object stripping means, said conveyor includes two endless chains following identical closed paths adjacent the inner sides of said upstanding frame members and said means for receiving the successive rods includes receptacles on each of said chains at locations aligned laterally with corresponding paired receptacles on the other of the chains, said paired receptacles opening laterally toward each other and normal to said path of travel of said conveyor in the outward direction; and further including a laterally extending outer guide member carried by each of said upstanding frame members and extending along a substantial portion of the closed path of travel of the adjacent chain to overlie said receptacles and retain the end portions of rods received in said receptacles within the latter during the travel of said receptacles along said portion of the closed path of travel; said object stripping means, object removing means and core removing means being located at positions included within said portion of the path of travel.

3. An automatic machine according to claim 2', wherein said conveyor further includes rollers on said chains; and further including a laterally extending inner guide member carried by each of said upstanding frame members and extending along the closed path of travel of the adjacent one of said chains for contact by said rollers to limit displacement of the adjacent chain in the direction normal to its closed path of travel.

4. An automatic machine according to claim 2; wherein said conveyor further includes three co-planar sprockets supporting each of said endless chains and disposed coaxially with respect to the corresponding sprockets supporting the other of said chains, shafts journalled in said frame and supporting said coaxial sprockets; and wherein said means for driving the conveyor includes a power rotated driving shaft, speed-reducing means driven by said driving shaft, variable speed transmission means driven by said speed-reducing means, and an enclosed sprocket and chain transmission connected between the output of said variable-speed transmission means and one of said sprocket supporting shafts to rotate the latter and thereby to effect movement of said chains.

5. An automatic machine according to claim 2; wherein said closed conveyor path includes a lower run along which said receptacles open normal to said run in the downward direction, and said outer guide members terminate at one end at a location adjacent said lower run so that, as the successive paired receptacles move past said one end of the outer guide members, the opposite ends of rods received in said receptacles are freed to permit the rods to drop gravitationally from said conveyor.

6. An automatic machine according to claim 5; wherein said closed conveyor path further includes an upwardly directed run extending from one end of said lower run and a downwardly inclined upper run extending from the top of said upwardly directed run to the opposite end of said lower run, and said outer guide members terminate at their opposite end at a location adjacent said top of the upwardly directed run so that rods carrying cores having objects shaped thereon can be inserted at their opposite ends in said receptacles at a location along said upwardly directed run below said opposite terminating end of said outer guide members.

7. An automatic machine for stripping shaped objects from the cores on which they are formed; said machine comprising a conveyor moving along a predetermined path of travel, pairs of laterally aligned receptacles on said conveyor opening laterally toward each other and also outwardly normal to said path of travel, a rod supported at its opposite ends, respectively, in each of said pairs of receptacles and including an elongated tubular body having flat plates at its opposite ends to seat in said receptacles and prevent rotation of said body about its longitudinal axis and core holding means at uniformly spaced locations along the length of said tubular body, each of said core holding means including spaced and parallel prongs extending fixedly from said body in a direction inclined away from the normal to said path of travel in the direction opposed to the movement of the conveyor for removably mounting at least one core on each of said rods, and stripping means disposed at a location adjacent said path of travel and operative to strip a shaped object from the cores carried by the successive rods as the latter pass said location.

8. An automatic machine according to claim 7; wherein each of said receptacles includes a flat base on which the related end plate of a rod is adapted to rest and upstanding flanges on the front and rear ends and on the outer longitudinal edge of said flat base, and said end plate is formed with an upstanding flange along its outer longitudinal edge to bear against the inside surface of the flange extending along said outer longitudinal edge of the base; and wherein said flange at the front end of the base is higher than said flange at the rear end of the base and bent inwardly at the top to overlie said flat plate and the flange of the latter and thereby to prevent tipping of the rod when the latter is moving upwardly along a steeply inclined portion of said path of travel.

9. An automatic machine for stripping shaped objects from the cores on which they are formed; said machine comprising a conveyor moving along a path of travel having a downwardly inclined portion, spaced apart transverse rods carried by said conveyor, each of said rods removably supporting at least one shod core in a position thereabove during movement along said inclined portion of the path of travel, a stripping device disposed above said inclined portion of the path of travel for each core supported by the successive rods, said stripping device including an elongated stripping member having a stripping element at one end, an adjustable fixed support, an adjustable tensioning link pivotally connected at one end to said fixed support, an extension on said stripping member intermediate the ends of the latter and pivotally connected to the opposite end of said tensioning link, means carried by said fixed support and slidably holding the other end portion of said stripping member, said fixed support being adjusted so that said stripping element normally projects into the path of movement of the foremost end of a shaped object on the related core to be engaged by the latter and moved forwardly and upwardly in frictional contact with said foremost end of the shaped object to lift the latter off its core, and a lever pivoted at one end on said fixed support and having a downwardly directed claw at its other end to engage under the lifted object and further remove the latter from its core, means disposed adjacent said inclined portion of the path of travel following said stripping means and operative to complete the removal of the shaped objects from their cores, means operative to remove the denuded cores from the related rods, and means for receiving the removed objects and for receiving the denuded cores and including auxiliary conveying means operative to transport the received objects and cores to segregated zones.

10. An automatic machine according to claim 9; wherein said claw carries a rotatable roller at its free end to ride over the foremost end of the core during engagement of the claw under the lifted object on the core so that excessive rubbing of the claw against the core is prevented.

ll. An automatic machine for stripping shaped objects from cores on which they are formed; said machine comprising a frame, a conveyor within said frame moving along a closed, substantially three-sided path of travel including a front, upwardly directed run, a downwardly inclined upper run and a downwardly inclined lower run, spaced apart transverse rods carried by said conveyor and each removably supporting at least one shod core at the outside of said closed path, a stripping device disposed above said upper run for each core supported by the successive rods and operative to strip the shaped objects from the shod cores on the successive rods, means adjacent said upper run at a location following said stripping means and operative to complete the removal of the stripped objects from the related cores on the successive rods, means disposed adjacent said lower run of the conveyor path for each core supported by the successive rods and operative to remove the denuded cores from the related rods, and means for receiving the removed objects and for receiving the cores separated from the rods and operative to transport the received objects and cores to segregated zones.

12. An automatic machine according to claim 11; wherein said means for completing removal of the stripped objects from the respective cores includes an inclined tray extending laterally below said upper run of the conveyor path, a tray extension pivotally connected to the upper edge of said tray, spring means connected to said tray extension and operative to maintain the latter in the plane of said tray with the upper edge portion of said tray extension projecting into the path of travel of the successive rods to be rocked by the latter and then released for striking against the stripped objects on the rods so that the striped objects fall onto said inclined tray.

13. An automatic machine according to claim 11; wherein said means for removing the denuded cores from the successive rods includes a lever pivoted at one end for swinging in a vertical plane above said lower run, hammer elements on said lever operative to strike downwardly against the cores on the successive rods during downward swinging of said lever and thereby to separate the struck cores from the rods, and means actuated by the successive rods and operative to intermittently raise said lever and then to release the latter for gravitationally induced downward movement of the lever.

14. An automatic machine according to claim 13; wherein said means for intermittently raising said lever consists of a downwardly angled lever extension rigidly connected to said lever and projecting at its free end into the path of travel of said rods along said lower run so that the successive rods engage and ride under said lever extension to rock the latter and said lever upwardly.

15. An automatic machine according to claim 13;

wherein said hammer elements consist of two elongated and spaced apart elements extending from said lever in said vertical plane to pass in front and in back, respectively, of each of the successive rods during downward swinging of said lever, said element passing in back of the rod being rigidly connected to said lever while the other of said elements is pivoted on said lever for swinging relative to the latter, from a position parallel to said element passing in back of the rod, forwardly in the direction of movement of the conveyor to permit the successive rods to move out from between said two elements, and spring means yieldably urging said other element to said parallel position.

16. An automatic machine according to claim 11; wherein the last mentioned means includes conveying mean-s disposed below said means for completing removal of the stripped objects from the respective cores to receive the removed objects, a receiving bin disposed to accept the objects discharged from said conveying means, a swinging gate member in said bin operative to regulate the discharge of objects from said bin and a belt conveyor passing transversely below said gate member to receive objects discharged from said bin and to convey such objects out of said frame to a zone remote from the latter.

17. An automatic machine according to claim 16; wherein said conveying means includes a laterally moving belt conveyor extending from a position within said closed path of the first mentioned conveyor and below said upper run to a position at one side of said first mentioned conveyor and above said bin.

18. An automatic machine according to claim 16; wherein said last mentioned means further includes a downwardly inclined ramp extending from below said means for removing the denuded cores from the related rods, a core receiving bin disposed at the lower end of said inclined ramp and having a swinging gate member for closing the lower end of the core receiving bin, and a belt conveyor passing transversely below said lower end of the core receiving bin to receive cores discharged from said core receiving bin and to carry such cores out of said frame to a zone remote from the latter.

19. An automatic machine according to claim 18; further comprising pressure fluid operated means connected to each of said swinging gate members to elfect the opening and closing of the latter, and electromagnetically controlled valve means operatively associated with said pressure fluid operated means for regulating the flow of pressure fluid to the latter and thereby determining the positions of the related gate members.

No references cited. 

